Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2020-07-01"
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- Internal communication in Grupo Veterinário São Francisco de AssisPublication . Guerreiro, Marta Noronha Leal Pratas; Xavier, RuteThe Veterinary Market in Portugal has grown over the last few years and, consequently, the need for investment has increased not only in tangible resources, but also in human resources. Thus, Grupo Veterinário São Francisco de Assis (GVSFA) has shown interest in improving its internal communication and cohesion as a team of experienced professionals in the veterinary sector. This thesis aims to emphasize the importance of internal communication nowadays and to uncover the reality of GSVFA in terms of internal communication in order to meet the Group’s needs in the recommendations. Taking this into account, it was conducted a questionnaire for the GVSFA’s employees, in order to obtain the most organic information possible. The analysis of the questionnaire was supported by literature related to internal communication and employee engagement, and the method of data coding was used in order to guarantee objectivity in the analysis. Based on the reviewed literature and the analysis performed, the areas of GVSFA in which there is more room for improvement were identified. These areas were chosen as main targets for the recommendations. The recommendations suggest the implementation of lean thinking and, more specifically, the application of the kaizen technique in team meetings. In the future, its application can be extended to more areas in GVSFA.
- Ownership versus shared economy : implications on german car manufacturersPublication . Schneider, Maximilian Alexander; Nunes, José Mauro GonçalvesIn times of financial uncertainty, sustainable demands, and resource scarcity, consumers tend to share rather than own items. Digitalization has played its part, start-ups have evolved, and consumers become suppliers. In 2008, the first app entered a mobile device, and a company called Uber was founded only one year later. It has ever since transformed business, markets, and processes in one of the largest industries in the world – the automotive sector. Despite the rapid development of digitalization and tech giants dominating markets, there isn't an ideal solution for traditional German carmakers to defend their turf. Those implications create uncertainties for incumbents of the automotive industry. Therefore, two research questions animate this thesis: What is the impact of the shared economy on the automotive industry? What is the impact of digitalization on the automotive industry? This requires a precise understanding of the reason behind changing consumer preferences and the actual development and impact of digitalization in the automotive industry. In today's business world, industries are emerging, and new competitors are joining the stage frequently. The theoretical research exhausts vast literature and recent news to understand changing consumer preferences and the impact of digitalization on the automotive industry. Through qualitative data collection, the academic findings are supported by practical insights, gained through eight interviews. That combined approach of literature and qualitative data concluded that the car has to become pre-dominantly a service rather than the actual hardware in the future. Carmakers have to move towards becoming software companies to stay competitive with tech giants entering the field.
- The effect of client complexity on audit qualityPublication . Morais, Diogo Alexandre Felício; Kalogirou, FaniPrevious research suggests that audit quality may be influenced by various client characteristics. This dissertation examines whether changes in audit quality between different companies may be a reflection of audited companies’ own complexity. In this research, audit quality is proxied by ‘Absolute Discretionary Accruals’ and client complexity is proxied by ‘Sales to Industry’, the ‘Net Intangible Assets per Employee’, and a dummy variable for listed/unlisted companies (‘Listed Factor’). A series of regressions are run and aim to evaluate the relation between client complexity and audit quality and also to understand if that relations are similar between Big4 and NonBig4 clients. Additionally, a survey with audit professionals and an interview with an audit manager are conducted in order to evaluate how field professionals perceive the relation between the two factors. The regression results generally suggest that client complexity does not influence audit quality. The interviewed manager also does not perceive that there is a relation between the two factors. On the other hand, the survey results suggest that most junior auditors believe that audit quality is improved by client complexity.
- Can the standard EBIT-based structural model replicate credit ratings? : an empirical study on S&P500 non-financial firmsPublication . Madsen, Simen Bjølseth; Silva, NunoThe objective of this thesis is to analyze whether the default measures obtained through the standard EBIT-based structural model are comparable to those obtained through credit ratings. This study covers all non-financial companies present on the S&P500 throughout the 2004-2018 period. Credit risk measures coming from the two approaches were found to be broadly comparable. Nevertheless, it was found that on average the structural model under predicts the credit-ratings probability of default by 0,68 p.p. and over predicts the distance to default by 0,57 standard deviations. This under prediction of credit risk was observed across all sectors, though with different degrees of intensity depending on the economic sector. The underprediction was found in all years of study except the financial crisis period. This dissertation proceeded by analysing the relation between the model and rating agencies default measures. The two estimates show a relatively strong correlation, notably 44% in the case of the probability of default and 52% in the case of the distance to default. The relation between the distances to default measures has been further studied through panel data regressions both on levels (with and without firm fixed effects) and on time differences. Under all approaches the coefficient for the model distance to default measure was found to be relatively small but significant at all the usual confidence levels. This result suggests that the structural model tends to overreact on all new information, while rating agencies act more smoothly.
- Da tentativa à história: as origens da Inquisição em Portugal na visão de Alexandre HerculanoPublication . Mateus, Susana BastosA História do Estabelecimento da Inquisição em Portugal de Alexandre Herculano constitui-se como uma obra pioneira e fundamental para a historiografia do Santo Ofício português. Dedicada ao período imediatamente anterior ao estabelecimento do tribunal e aos primeiros anos do seu funcionamento, nos seus três volumes o escritor projeta as polémicas virulentas em que estava envolvido, sobretudo com alguns setores do catolicismo português, na sua leitura do século XVI e, muito em particular, no reinado de D. João III, considerado o grande obreiro da introdução da Inquisição no reino. A controvérsia em torno da obra surgiu logo no seu tempo e mesmo o autor, ao longo dos anos que tardou a publicação completa dos três volumes e na passagem da primeira para a segunda edição, afinou algumas partes do texto e mudou o título de Tentativa para História, mostrando uma intencionalidade claramente assertiva nesta segunda versão. Sendo, sem dúvida, uma obra do seu tempo, o sustentáculo documental em que ancorava, fruto do labor de muitos anos de Herculano como diretor de importantes bibliotecas e arquivos portugueses faz com que a obra tenha tido muitos leitores ao longo do tempo e, ainda hoje, seja presença incontornável nas bibliografias da historiografia sobre a Inquisição portuguesa.
- Consent notices and cognitive cost after the GDPR : an experimental studyPublication . Pastore, Anna; Quinn, Martin SeamusIn May 2018, the European Union enforced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation makes mandatory to recover user’s consent when they access a website, thus firms have to implement cookie banners that allow users to declare their privacy preferences. The aim of this paper is to study users’ interaction with four different banners that combine the opt-in/opt-out format with the presence or not of a bulk option (Accept/Reject all button). It analyzes how users react to the introduction of such bulk option that decrease cognitive cost to interact with banners. This study finds that the bulk option has an impact on user’s interaction with the banners, especially when combined with the opt-in format (p<0.001). This study also finds that without the bulk option, the format has no impact on interaction. Moreover, with the bulk option, users’ interaction is the same no matter the default option for the EU population since the presence of the “Accept/Reject all” buttons induce people to click on them even though they represent two opposed decisions over data provision. However, when comparing the EU and the US samples, the results highlight a lower interaction due to the opt-out format (p<0.001) in presence of the bulk option. This study contributes to the scientific research regarding the effects of GDPR on users’ online behavior and it participates to the debate on the regulatory environment of online personal information.
- Coalitions of private sector companies as disruptor in the fashion industry : impacts of industry-wide movements on sustainability transitionsPublication . Wilm, Ludmilla Käthe; Pinho, AndréSustainability in the fashion industry has become a widely debated subject. Different stakeholders such as, brands, designers, suppliers, fashion journals and consumers, all contribute to this issue. Although a considerable amount of research has focused on various sustainability drivers of the fashion industry, the way coalitions influence the sustainable transformation has been neglected. This dissertation focuses on the impact of such coalitions that disrupt this transition taking place and provides an outlook on the industry. To this end, the impact of coalitions analysed using the triple-bottom-line approach and the support of expert interviews. With this foundation, three scenarios were developed, and future perspectives were presented. The ‘base case’ scenario signifies, that coalitions had no impact on the industry’s transition, which will lead to an absence of decisive cooperation between stakeholders and a lack of education about the importance of the subject in the society. Consequently, the fashion industry has not developed further from the status quo, which is the reason why it remains one of the most polluting industries worldwide. In the ‘moderate’ scenario, the coalitions have slightly improved the awareness and education of certain groups in society through moderate cooperation between the industry stakeholders. Scenario ‘optimistic’ shows how the sustainable transition of the industry leads to systematic and holistic change through outstanding cooperative and educational spirit generated by the coalitions. These scenarios are designed to provide comprehensive assistance for managers and their efforts to foster the transition towards a sustainable fashion industry. Overall, the dissertation serves as a foundation for future research.
- Esports on Netflix or DAZN? : the potential impact of hosting Esports on subscription-based OTT platformsPublication . Ventzke, Paul Erikl; Pinho, AndréIn recent years, electronic sports (short: 'esports'), has drawn significant attention and is trending to a global market. While esports attracts vast audiences, is slowly growing into mainstream culture, and is increasingly accepted as a professional practice, the monetization of esports still lags far behind other traditional sports. In those traditional sports and within the general video content consumption, over-the-top platforms and especially subscription-model platforms have disrupted the television and live-sports industry, leading to significant changes in the way people consume video content. At present, there are hardly any subscription-based platforms hosting esports, and academically wise there is little literature that examines the potential impact of broadcasts of competitive and professional video games on subscription-based platforms. The research questions of this dissertation approach aim at estimating the potential impact of subscription-based platforms on esports and how they could shape the esports industry in the medium term and long term. Using qualitative and quantitative data as well as literature research, the potential of subscription-based platforms is analyzed as a result of four main factors, and the future development of the primary industry stakeholders as well the future of the esports industry is predicted. As a result of this research, this dissertation assesses the potential of subscription-based over- the- top platforms of the esports industry as mediocre and predicts a rather neutral development in the future. Nevertheless, it identifies potentially advantageous factors that could improve the business environment for such platforms in the future.
- The persistent effects of entering the labour market in a recession : evidence from PortugalPublication . Lopes, Catarina Inês Claro; Silva, JoanaThis paper examines the effects of entering the labor market during a recession on subsequent labor market outcomes. Using longitudinal matched employer-employee data from Portugal for the period 2002-2017, this paper estimates the impacts of the unemployment rate at the time of labour market entry on subsequent earnings of university graduates. Using a fixed effects model controlling for potential experience, regional and labour market entry-year, it finds that university students that graduated during the Great Recession of 2008-2012 were negatively affected by the initial conditions even after these conditions have subsided. The so-called “unlucky” cohort, that graduated between 2008 and 2012, has a penalty on the initial level of annual earnings of around 8 percent. This penalty fades over time but is still present in 2017. The effect on initial earnings is stronger and more prolonged among women than men, suggesting that recessions can be a potential source of gender wage inequality in Portugal. The results presented are supportive of persistent, and, large negative impacts on youth of the Great Recession of 2008-2012 in Portugal.
- Releases as adverts : product discovery in video-gamesPublication . Monteiro, Francisco da Costa; Quinn, Martin SeamusConsumers do not have perfect information about products. Therefore, product discovery plays a key role. I use the market for video-games to estimate the causal effect of the release of a new game on the performance of an older game by the same company. I find that, in the weeks before the release, the old game underperforms, which is consistent with a substitution effect between the old and the new game. In the weeks after the release, the old game increases performance significantly, which suggests that there is a backwards information spillover. This average treatment effect can be as high as 20% in the number of owners. Overall, I find that the release of a new game serves as a advert for the old game.